Cluttering up the forum! Cluttering up the forum!!. The man is a genius and I'm proud to display his works.

Having spent not a little time on a forum dedicated to his scribblings, I can honestly say he fan base cuts across all levels/peoples. There seems to be no single 'type' of person that reads his stuff.

I've read nearly all of them.

Personal favorites of mine are the wizards and the librarian. Their constant sniping at each other never fails to amuse.
And the Patrician...so freaking dry

The books or the characters in the books?

That's really a matter of personal taste. I don't like his 'kids' books, they are too complicated for children and not interesting enough for adults. As regards his discworld stories...Some that I have read I didn't like at first, yet after a second reading have become firm favorites. Of those I don't like the most are..
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents.
Monstrous Regiment.
Wee Free men
A Hatful of Sky

I've got his latest offering in front of me now so I shall count them from the flyleaf...and the count is (without screenplays) is sixty five books. (of varying types).

My first was "Guards Guards", then "Pyramids". Then everything I could find as fast as I could buy them.

Death is cool...but so is his daughter.

Cluttering up the forum!! I'll start singing the hedgehog song if you are not careful. In fact I'll sing it anyway

Ahem...cough cough. Ladies and gentelmen. I give you the hedgehog song. Sung in the key of G, with an orchestra of 30 kazoos.

Old Noah was mucking the Ark out one day
when he heard a great shriek from the neighboring stall.
Said he to poor Ham, who was hugging his loins,
"Ah, the hedgehog, my boy, can't be buggered at all."

Chorus (repeat after each verse)
Roll them all over and turn them around,
The hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The sheep is a classic, as well you may find,
the llama's all right if he isn't too tall,
the donkey's a danger for standing behind,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

You may pounce on the cat as he walks on his lone,
the mole has a hole into which you can crawl,
you must blindfold the basilisk or turn into stone,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The sow is a darling, so slick and so tight,
to cuddle and kiss as you lie next the wall,
but she don't chew the cud, so you'd better not bite,
and the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The squirrel requires the climbing of trees,
which puts you at risk of a slip and a fall.
The dog's man's best friend if you don't mind the fleas,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

You can do it with a frog in a puddle or pool,
though you might catch a cold in your whatchamacall-
it, or with a giraffe if you stand on a stool,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The rhino is often... reluctant... to flirt;
the termite's a challenge because he's so small
you might wash him away with your very first squirt;
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The bonobo monkey is willing to hump:
he'll do all his friends, both the large and the small,
and he'll do it to you if you show him your rump,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The humans are out, if you value your life:
it's incest, my son, since we're relatives all...
unless you'd make love to your very own wife!
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

I don't recommend that you tackle the skunk.
I did once myself, I'm ashamed to recall;
I must have been EXtr'ordinARily drunk!
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The kangaroo's pocket can carry your tool
though her kick may propel you clean over the wall.
The platypus lurks in the muck of his pool
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The camel is likely to spit in your face,
but don't take it bad, for it ain't personAL:
he simply detests the entire human race,
and the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

As a friend to the children, commend me the Yak;
he's perfect to start them on when they are small,
for they cannot slip off of his very broad back,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

You can take a wild ride on a wild catamount
if your ears can stand up to his wild caterwaul.
You can poke your own fist, but that really don't count,
and the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

Take care when you lift up the elephant's tail
or beware of the fate that else may befall:
if you pick the wrong end you could wind up impaled!
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

To futter the bat you must take to the air.
She'll flutter her wings and go into a stall
and pitch you off into God-only-knows-where,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The billygoat's habits, though pungent and weird,
you've got to accept if it's him that you'd ball:
he don't use cologne, he just cums in his beard,
and the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

The guinea pig's timid, and brainless to boot,
he's worse than no use in a ruckus or brawl,
but you can't pass him up 'cause he's so bloody cute!
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

You can bugger a whale if you're willing to swim
or an ORanguTANG if you hang from a limb;
or make time with a snail if you slow... to... a... crawl...,
... but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all!

Final chorus





Or how about "A wizards staff has a nob on the end"?

His latest one "Thud"...is ok. Not great, but ok.

The books - I mean, is it the characters? Is is it that they satirise this world? Or are they just pure escapism?

I think that they are very entertaining (and part of that is because of the strong characters - I tend to remember those more than the actual plots of the books), but, beneath all that, Pratchett makes fun of some of the things that go on in this world - and I think he does that very well.

I also read somewhere that one of the things about his books is the lack of repetition - and I think in the few that I've read, that's certainly true. They are different novels, whereas other prolilfic writers tend to write the same sort of stuff, with the same sort of things happening.

I've also found a list of Discworld Novels in chronological order:

1 1983 The Colour of Magic

2 1986 The Light Fantastic

3 1987 Equal Rites

4 1987 Mort

5 1988 Sourcery

6 1988 Wyrd Sisters

7 1989 Pyramids

8 1989 Guards! Guards!

9 1990 Eric

10 1990 Moving Pictures

11 1991 Reaper Man

12 1991 Witches Abroad

13 1992 Small Gods

14 1992 Lords and Ladies

15 1993 Men At Arms

16 1994 Soul Music

17 1994 Interesting Times

18 1995 Maskerade

19 1996 Feet of Clay

20 1996 Hogfather

21 1997 Jingo

22 1998 The Last Continent

23 1998 Carpe Jugulum

24 1999 The Fifth Elephant

25 2000 The Truth

26 2001 Thief of Time

27 2001 The Last Hero

28 2002 Night Watch

29 2003 Monstrous Regiment

30 2004 Going Postal

31 2005 Thud!



It seems from a brief web search that Reaper Man is regarded as the best by 'the fans' - is it?? I think I would put Mort and Guards! Guards! higher.

(I remember buying Reaper Man when it came out in paperback, just as Small Gods came out - but I didn't realise it was that long ago )

He messed around with all the big pictures and big names in 'Moving pictures'...Marylin Monroe carrying an ape up the tower of art (Empire state building) with the wizards firing from a broomstick...brilliant imagry.

Carpe Juglum...standing in the fiery wings of a phoenix...the ultimate test.

I'll get you for this just see if I don't!
I've had to actually use my memory...it hurt too...AND I had to go through all the books!

..where lifetimers are stored - shelf upon shelf of them. (Mort)

Don't know.

This is space. It's sometimes called the final frontier. (Moving Pictures)

...which travels through space on the backs of four elephants..(Witches Abroad.)

..Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically like an inefficient assasin. (Wyrd Sisters)
OR Maskerade they both start the same

Not sure...but I think it's from the book Sourcery.

Don't know.

And this much can be remembered..(Soul Music)

..It is danced under blue skies to celebrate the quickening of the soil...(Reaper man)

Some I can't find/remember someone else will have to answer them...good questions

Another Disc day dawned, but very gradually, and this is why. The light fantastic

Correct...I've just found the book in the bathroom and checked.

Ahh...another potential fan is born. Try to get Gaurds!Gaurds! first.

Hurrah! The thread claims its first potential convert! Ahhh, the simple joys of the internet forum...

What's up with the luggage?? It's the most dangerous travel accessory in the multiverse that's what's up with it!

Keeps your underwear clean though.

It all makes so much sense afer a while

If you are giong to read The light fantastic next, you are about to meet Cohen the Barbarian.

Lol my friend keeps giving me funny looks and thinking im strainge cos i keep on qouting lines from the book.

Oh well his loss

So now that i have read the first three books why do you think equal rites is the best HQ?

It introduces Granny Weatherwax and (to me) sets the stage and style of the rest of the series...kind of the whole thing starts to become something that is more than just one or two books, and Pterry seems to realise that he is onto something with the few books.

My opinions as regards Pterry's work are pretty standard...your opinions are of more intrest.

(The hardcore of Pratchett mania always refer to him as Pterry....something to do with the book 'Pyramids'...another bloody good one)

You have a point about Granny Weatherwax, she's cool. I still thought "The Light Fantastic" was the best out of the first three but i suppose its just a matter of opinion.

Have you thought of getting copies from your local library? Only that I think it might work out a little cheaper - but perhaps I'm just showing my age by worrying about things like money

Libraries are ok...but some things you just gotta OWN!
If I think a books worth reading I usually consider it worth buying and reading several times.

Besides how is he going to build up a library of his own if he doesn't buy them?

i agree you just have to reread these books

My point exactly